''The Biggest Pizza Ever'' by JibJab Jr. is a fun book app that you can use to work on answering ''wh'' questions, teaching verbs, stating emotions and much much more.  Here's how it works: Choose who is going to be the main character of the book and then choose Create Character and add photo, name, and skin type. Now you are ready to ...

Every kid can benefit from the kind of positive reinforcement offered by the phrase, ''You did it!'' especially if it is offered in an exuberant voice. I say this because lately with a number of my younger and developmentally younger students I have been using the interactive book app Pat the Bunny, and the positive reinforcement ...

I have spent a fair amount of time here complaining about winter, so it's a good time to let you know that I LOVE St. Patrick's Day, mostly because to me it is the beginning of spring. Also, I am Darn Well Irish (the MacSweeneys, one of them being my grandfather, hail from County Cork, Ireland). This is sort of a weird holiday to target ...

In my previous post, I mentioned the quiet winter we have had in the northeast, and how I don't mind it at all! However, it's always nice to have a ''snow day'' school cancellation to let you catch up on work (or relaxation). Snow Day, by Patricia Lakin and Scott Nash, is a cute little picture book in which a group of kids with the ...

I've always loved reading classic fairy tales with my students. Not only are they great for their narrative structure, but they also play a big role in our culture.  Well, I really lucked out, because look what our librarian's daughter painted on the wall right outside my office!   As I walk to my room with my younger ...

Books continue to be my heroes in my school position, sometimes showing up to save me from ennui when I least expect it. I was recently doing a pull-over sort of session in the literacy center (the kindergarten class is nearby and my room is, well, not), and spied the colorful cover of Alphabet Rescue, by Audrey Wood and her son, Bruce. ...

I am happy to share some good news for those of you who have been following the Speech in the Schools Blog over the past year. Last October in a blog post I recommended a book called ''The Spooky House of Horror'' by Charles Fuge, Ian Craig and Ron Van der Meer. I felt horrible to discover that it was a collectors' item and now costs a ...

A couple of blogs ago, I wrote about several new therapy techniques/strategies/programs that I was trying with my students this year. Now that it is nearly the end of the first marking period (Friday!), I think I've had enough time and experience trialing these programs to give you my opinion of each in this blog. One of the four new ...

This has been an exciting week for my family and me. On Monday, August 29, we welcomed our third daughter, Talya, into the world! To prepare my other daughters (2 and 3 years old) for the new addition, we have been reading lots of books on having a new baby. Since my daughters love the iPad, I thought I would find some apps to help ...

As SLPs, we can help support literacy development with our students who are AAC users. Here are a few tips that you can use in your everyday practice to help with this process: Importance of Research Based Literacy Programs: Learning to read is a complex process and can be a frustrating one for individuals with Complex Communication ...